Shortly after celebrating our 40th company anniversary last month, FM:Systems officially opened our new headquarters about seven miles from our old office in Raleigh, North Carolina. In deciding to relocate, we weren’t alone: 9% of publicly traded companies moved their headquarters in fiscal year 2022-23, the highest rate since 2017 and a 29% increase from the previous fiscal year. What made the FM:Systems’ relocation unique, however, is the fact that our new HQ has been custom-designed to show off our workplace management solutions and reflect our people–first culture.
Here’s a look at why we decided to move and which of our very own workplace management solutions we’re using to make our new office both a welcoming and productive place for our employees and visitors alike.
Leaving the Past Behind
Companies relocate for a number of reasons, including to reduce costs, upsize or downsize their space, and address employee preferences regarding location or amenities. In our case at FM:Systems, we realized that the size, location and layout of our old office was built for a bygone era when employees came to the office five days a week and stayed glued to their assigned desks. To quickly paint the picture:
- Private offices lined the perimeter of the building, and the interior was dominated by cubicles.
- Because of the layout, natural light couldn’t reach the central area of the office.
- The location was essentially in a work desert of the city, with limited nearby amenities only accessible by car.
- The entire office offered 105 workstations that covered 17,500 square feet.
“Before the pandemic, when employees were required to be in the office full-time, it seemed like a vibrant work environment because it was packed,” said FM:Systems Chief Strategy Officer Brian Haines, who acted as facility manager and project manager for the relocation. “But it wasn’t a warm space. It wasn’t the kind of place that employees were eager to come to or that we were proud to show off to visitors.”
Three years ago, with the expiration of the lease on our old office looming, FM:Systems’ leadership decided to start searching for a new home rather than remodel the existing one. We found it in the Raleigh Iron Works, a mixed-use development built on an old industrial site.
A Headquarters That Feels Like Home
Featuring shops, restaurants, offices and apartments, the Raleigh Iron Works links the city’s history with its future by offering innovative, curated, and dynamic spaces in a highly walkable area that still contains echoes of its industrial past. After 11 years in a 17,500-square-foot space that had increasingly come to feel stifling, our light and airy new 6,000-square-foot space was literally a breath of fresh air.
Ensuring that that air stays fresh is just one of the tasks we deployed FM:Systems solutions to perform. In combination with hardware from some of our technology partners, these advanced smart building systems are empowering us to provide occupants with an engaging, secure and healthy workplace experience.
FM:Systems tech used in FM:Systems HQ
Indoor Air Quality
Our new headquarters is equipped with Airthings environmental sensors that monitor indoor air quality (IAQ) throughout the entire workplace. Screens deployed around the office make data on noise, temperature, humidity, light, particulate and carbon dioxide levels easily accessible to all occupants.
FMS:Insights & Sensors
This IAQ information is fed into our multi-data point analysis platform, FMS:Insights, and correlated with occupancy data from our WorkPoint occupancy sensors, Xovis entrance and egress counters andXY Sense open area sensors. Together, we’re not only sharing how noise, temperature, light and other factors impact the way occupants utilize the space, but we’re also collecting quality utilization and booking data that will allow us to make strategic decisions about the workplace, if and when our needs change.
FMS:Employee
In addition to a lobby and breakroom, our new office comprises 12 workstations, three booths, five offices, two conference rooms and three phone booths – which are small, soundproofed rooms intended for individuals engaging in private conversations. All of these workspaces are reservable using FMS:Employee – our solution most commonly known for making hybrid work arrangements easy and manageable. Ultimately, it’s a flexible and intuitive workspace scheduling solution where employees can easily reserve any of the 12 workstations remotely via an online interface and through booking panels in the office.
FMS:Visitor
Occupant experience isn’t limited to employees. Just as important is how guests – whether they are vendors, partners or clients – are welcomed and processed into the new headquarters. That’s why we deployed our visitor management solution, FMS:Visitor, to deliver a superior, secure and inviting experience for guests. And, as Brian explains, we expect to get plenty of use out of the system.
“We rarely invited customers or partners to our old office, but the new headquarters is designed for that. This is our home, but it’s also a place where we can show off all of our technology. We even have people asking us if they can come see it. It’s a beautiful space, and we are so excited to be here.” – Brian Haines, CSO, FM:Systems
